Attachment for stapling machines



July 2, 1957 i I R. D. BoLTER 2,797,414

ATTACHMENT FOR STAPLING MACHINES Filed July 14, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

7 2,797,414 ATTACHMENT non ISTAPLING MACHINES Riehard D. Bolster,Winchester, Mass., assignor to Atlas Plywood Corporation, Boston, Mass,a corporation of Massachusetts Application .luly 14, 1954, Serial No.443,268

Claims. or. 1 -49 .order to achieve the proper holding effect of thestaples.

Further, in utilizing staples with conventional sheared divergingpoints, it is preferableto locate the staples at an angle with respectto the edge of material to'realizea maxiinum holding .power for thistype of staple. It will also be appreciated that both correct spacingand angular placement should be equally well achieved with edges ly-'ing in either horizontal or. vertical planes and extending in varyingdirections. 7

I am aware that various stapler guide mechanisms have been proposed inthe art but, so far as I am aware, none of these conventional structuresare suitable for the pur pose indicated, and it is commonly the practiceto-employ hand operated pneumatic staplers, in many cases at least,without a guide attachment.

It is an object of the invention to deal with the problem indicated andto provide an improved stapler guide attachment. It is also an object todevise a reversible staple locating guide means which is capable ofproviding for correct spacing and desired angular placement in anydesiredoperating position of the stapler. It is further an object of theinvention to devise a guide shoe element which is of relatively simpleconstruction which can be quickly attached to a stapler and placed in anoperative position.

The nature of the invention and other objects and novel features will bemore fully understood and appreciated from the following description ofa .preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes ofillustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 isan exploded view in perspective fragmentarily illustrating theconventional pneumatic staplerwithjparts of the guide attachment of theinvention associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. l but further illustrating the guidebracket in a fully assembled position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the distances fromthe edge of a surface to be fastened, for

example, on a crate or shipping case. The guide shoe may beselectively-positioned in such a manner that one of its supporting partsmay be conveniently held in abutting relationship withone surface of abox while the shoe itself is located in a stapling position directlyover .the surface to be fastened. y

I have further provided in my improved attachment means for mountingthe. shoe. element in a diagonally supported manner such that thestaples or other fastenings may be located at a constant predeterminedangle with respect to an edge of a surface to be secured. This,.I- find,materially enhances the holding power of the doublepointed fastenings ofthe conventional typehaving diverging points. By the arrangement of theinvention, the crowns of the fasteningsare caused to come'intocontactwith the surface to be fastened at an angle to rather than parallel withthe edge. ofmaterial. Tfhis-feature is especially effective with stapleshaving divergent points which are sheared in oppositedirec'tionswithrespect to. the axis ofthe crown. Because these divergent points causethe legs of the fastening to sheer in opposite directions into thematerial to be fastened, maximum holding power and effectiveness areobtained by driving such fastenings at an angle such that the legs tendto sheer toward the center rather than the edge of the material beingfastened.

I have still further designed. the stapler attachment with locatingbracket constructed in the form of a spring clip which can easily bedetached, reversed in position and again applied to the stapler to.change the angle .of placement of the staple. This, I find, makes itpossible to use a stapler in either of two positions relative to an edgeto be fastened, which ever is easier .or possible, while still insuringproper distance and angularity of placement. This reversibility isaccomplished by guide ribs. and cooperating slots in the bracket.

Referring more in detail to the structure shown in the drawings and, inparticular, to Figs. 1 and '2, numeral 2 denotes a flat surfaced nosepiece of apneumatic type stapler head shown inan upright invertedposition and forming a part of a complete stapler mechanismfragmentarily shown "and generally indicated by S. The stapler S is ofthe conventional hand operated pneumatic type such as is exemplified bythe Calwire stapler manufactured and sold by the California WireProducts Company, Inc. In the fiat face 2 of the stapler head is formedan elongated staple opening 4 through which staples are normally drivenwhen this fiat surface is held against a surface to be stapled. Itshould be understood that in this hand operated type of stapler it iscustomary to provide a pistol grip which is an integral part of andextends at right angles to the cylindrical body portion of the stapler Spartly shown in the drawings.

In accordance with one preferredembodiment of-the invention, I provide aholder member 6 which may, for example, consist of a U-shaped steel bodyshaped to fit around the head piece 2, as shown, and adapted to berigidly secured, for example, by fastenings 8 and 10. The holder, whenlocated on the head piece in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is bymeans of its U shape open at one side to leave an opening at thosepoints where the staple magazine M is attached to the head piece 2 and,therefore, in no way interferes with the normal staple feeding operationof the invention.

I further provide on holder 6, at the opposite sides thereof, a pair ofrib portions 12 and 14 and I slidably support on these ribs a guide shoebracket generally denoted by the arrow B and better shown in Fig. 5.This guide shoe bracket is preferably constructed of a strip ofresilient material, such as steel, shaped with a crown portion 16 andtwo spaced-apart legs 18 and 20.

The spaced-apart legs are formed with slots 18a and 20a and separated adistance slightly smaller than the width of the nose piece so that thelegs may be sprung apart from one another and slid on over the ribs 12and 14, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, to resiliently grip this member in apositive manner. It will be apparent that the bracket may readily bedetached, when desired, and reversed in position. I

. Upon the crown portion 16 of the bracket B, I secure, by some suitablemeans, such as welding, a specially formed guide shoe element 24 havingoppositely extending tabs 26 and 28 which abut against the crown portionin the manner indicated. The shoe element is, in accordance with theinvention, secured as described in some predeterminedposition ofangularity with respect to the longitudinal axis of the stapling slot 4.This predetermined angularity will control the position at whichstaplesare driven, as may be readily seen from an inspection of Fig. 3wherein I have illustrated the stapling attachment inone desiredoperating position.

As shown in Fig; 3, staples-P have been driven into the surface F of acontainer C with the guide shoe element 24 overlying the adjoiningsurface T. It will be apparent that, as the shoe slides along thesurface T, the staples may be placed in an angularly extending positionand at approximately the same distance from the edge of the surface. InFig. 4, I have shown the attachment reversed in position to applystaples R to the top surface T and in an oppositely angled position,with the shoe element 24 being engaged against the surface F.

I may desire to modify my stapling attachment in various ways; forexample, in Fig. 6, I have shown a stapling nose piece 28 similar, ingeneral, to head piece 2 but provided with a pair of ribs 30 and 32formed integrally of the head piece. These ribs are adapted to slidablyreceive the slotted bracket B in substantially the manner alreadydescribed, although I may prefer to recess the bracket edges slightly inorder to facilitate proper setting of a guide shoe element, such as 24,on the stapler. It will be seen that this modification eliminates theneed for a U-shaped holder member and is an especially desirableconstruction for a new stapler manufacture, whereas the U-shaped holderpiece is a means of adapting the bracket B to existing forms ofstaplers.

It will be evident from the foregoing description that I have providedan improved guide means for using a hand operated stapler and that I maypositively locate fastenings in a position calculated to develop themost effective holding power. The operation of holding and applyingstaples is greatly simplified and made more accurate. There is alsoachieved a reduction in hazard which may result from air-drivenfastenings missing an edge and being fired through the air with possibledanger of injury.

While I have shown preferred embodiments of the invention, it will beunderstood that various modifications may be resorted to within thescope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. A guide attachment for a stapling apparatus of the class having aflat surfaced stapling head through which is formed a stapling slot,said guide attachment including bracket holder means mounted on thestapler head and presenting bracket retaining means thereon, a bracketsupported on the holder in a position to overlie the end of the staplinghead, said bracket including a flat body portion having an opening forreceiving the end of the stapling head therethrough and a pair ofspaced-apart slotted sides engageable with the said bracket retainingmeans on the bracket holder, and a guide element disposed at rightangles to the flat body portion of the bracket in a diagonally extendingmanner and in predetermined spaced relation to the stapling slot.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1, and means for detachably securingsaid bracket and guide element on said holder.

3. A structure according to claim 1 in which the slotted slides of thebracket are reversible on the bracket retaining means to vary theposition of the stapling head with respect to a surface which is to bestapled.

4. In combination, a corner stapling apparatus for applying staplesalong one of two surfaces which intersect at right angles to form acorner, said stapling apparatus having a fiat stapling end through whichis formed a stapling slot, corner guide means constructed and arrangedtoabut against one of said surfaces and to locate the flat stapling endof the stapling apparatus against the other of said surfaces with thestapling slot in predetermined spaced relationship to the said corner,said corner guide means including bracket holder means mounted about thestapling end at points immediately adjacent to the stapling slot, abracket element mounted on the bracket holder means and overlying saidstapling end, said bracket element being formed with an opening forreceiving the stapling end therethrough, and a guide member supported ina diagonally extending manner on the bracket in a position to locate thestapling slot in an angularly disposed position with respect to one ofthe said surfaces when the guide is in abutting relationship with theother of the said surfaces.

5. A structure according to claim 4 in which the holder extends abouttwo opposite sides of the stapling end and presents rib portions locatedexternally thereof and said bracket element including resilientspaced-apart slotted side portions slidably engaged over the said ribs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,977,382 Gruis Oct. 16, 1934 2,405,421 Guyon Aug. 6, 1946 2,536,779Stearns Jan. 2, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 669,496 France Nov. 16, 1929386,485 Great Britain Jan. 19, 1933

